A good BBQ shrimp recipe is hard to come by, they just never seem to have the right amount of kick to them. Well I m here to share with you my quick and easy BBQ shrimp recipe that is sure to have your guests BEGGING for your secret and the secret is in the simmer. Let me explain.
BBQ Shrimp Recipe
A REALLY good BBQ shrimp recipe has got to have the perfect marinade, with just the right amount of ingredients cooked slow and low for just the right amount of time and lets face it when you think of BBQ shrimp recipe you think of the south and so its only natural that it have some kick to it, right? Of course, that’s why this is the BEST and only BBQ SHRIMP RECIPE you will ever use again. Trust me, so simple, so tasty your family and friends are going to LOVE IT!
I’m going to walk you through the original preparation and then in the end I will share with you some short cuts for people on the run.
Keep in mind this recipe has to be prepared the day before, the marinade needs to be refrigerated overnight. I personally love preparing everything overnight, gives me more time to spend with my guests.
I like to break down my recipes by steps, in the order that they will be prepared and used, It makes it easier to refer back to during the cooking process. So lets begin.
Mimas BBQ Shrimp recipe:
Whats a BBQ shrimp recipe without the shrimp. You will need 5 pounds of fresh shrimp, medium or large, its your preference, I prefer large, once they are cooked they lose a little in size and they are just the right size for this BBQ shrimp recipe. You will also need a pound of bacon.
For the Marinade you will need:
1 cup of water
1/2 cup of cider vinegar
2 tbs worcestershire sauce
2 cups of ketchup
3/4 cup sugar
juice of 1 small lemon
2 tbs hot pepper sauce (you can increase or decrease depending on your personal taste, I personally always add.)
1/2 cup diced celery
2 cloves of minced garlic
1/2 minced onion
1/2 tsp of ground oregano
1 tsp Old Bay spice
1 tsp red pepper
1/2 tsp ground basil
1/4 cup minced parsley
Salt and pepper to taste
In a large saucepan add all of the ingredients for the marinade, just the way I have them listed, with the liquids first. Bring it to a boil then lower to simmer. continue simmering for 45 minutes to an hour, stirring frequently.
While your sauce is cooking take out your shrimp and begin to peel and devein them. Once all the shrimp are cleaned rinse them off in cold water and place them in a zip lock bag in the refrigerator.
Once your marinade is done allow it to cool down then transfer it to a large bowl or zip lock bag and place it in the refrigerator overnight. (I prefer using zip lock bags when preparing my recipes makes clean up a lot easier.)
In the morning transfer the shrimp into the marinade sauce and allow to marinade for AT LEAST one hour. Remember the longer the better to get all the flavors to come together.
While your shrimp is marinading take out the bacon cut the pieces in half and lightly cook. (remember it will cook some more on the grill so you don’t want to over cook it.)
Rap a piece of bacon around the shrimp and place on the skewers, place your skewers on a hot grill, remember to baste your shrimp with the remaining sauce as they are cooking on the grill, every minute or so. Shrimp cooks very quickly so keep a steady eye on them. In just 5 minutes your BBQ shrimp will be ready to eat.
I like to serve this with a quick and easy side salad, here’s what you will need:
3 colored peppers, red, yellow, orange
3 colored tomatoes, red, green, yellow
2 avocado
1 half of a red onion
2 jalapeno peppers
1 lemon
cut up all your fresh vegetables, sprinkle with some salt, pepper, squeeze the juice of a lemon on it, sprinkle with some olive oil. There you have it a delicious summer salad, with just the right amount of kick to go along side your FABULOUS BBQ Shrimp Recipe add a nice glass of ice cold lemonade. Perfect dish for a beautiful summer day or night. Sure to delight the fussiest of appetites.
Okay here is the time saver version
While preparing the marinade you can substitute your fresh garlic with the garlic already in a jar, onion can be onion flakes or powder, parsley can be dried flakes and the shrimp can be cleaned with the vein already removed, frozen in a bag, just remember to leave them in the refrigerator overnight so they are fully defrosted when time to be placed in the marinade.
This cuts your prep time almost in half with not chopping and just sprinkling, the time saved on the shrimp prep, well lets just say..doesn’t get any easier then defrosting! Now bare in mind if you do go with the time saver version you will have to increase your amounts of the substituted dried flavors, fresh ingredients are always more flavorful.
Here’s a little tip
During the BBQ season I always keep my freezer stocked with BBQ ready ingredients, meats, breads, corn, and of course fish, so if you keep a bag a shrimp on hand and you double the marinade recipe you can use what you need and freeze the rest in smaller containers or zip lock bags as I always suggest. This way you can just take out a package as needed and have this delicious BBQ shrimp anytime you want. The marinade for this BBQ Shrimp recipe can be frozen for up to a month.
